Tea prices in Bangladesh climbed at the first auction of the new season, on the arrival of fresh and good quality leaf, brokers said. Bangladeshi tea fetched an average of 219 taka ($2.6) per kg at the auction, up from 196.54 taka at the last auction of the previous season. Major buyers were back to the market on the arrival of fresh leaf at the first auction of the new season, said an official at National Brokers.
Nearly 11 percent of the 1.36 million kg offered at the sole auction centre in Chittagong was unsold. At the previous auction on March 13, around 430,470 kg was offered, of which less than 1 percent went unsold. Bangladesh's tea production dropped to nearly 79 million kg in 2017 from a record 85 million kg the previous year, which officials attributed to excessive rainfall.